Red Sunset
by InterestinglySherlock
Summary: MOS-verse. A short ficlette on Jor-El's musings when he found out that Krypton was doomed.


That was it, then.

No if's, and's, or but's. The irrefutable evidence glared at him mockingly. Coldly. Scientifically. Numbers lined up against numbers, all pointing to the proof that the world, the proud world of Krypton, would be ending.

And quite soon and in a dramatic fashion, actually.

Jor-El stood up, staring at the screen, blankly. He wanted to be wrong. He had to be wrong!

But no. There was no denying this. He'd checked and checked and checked over and over again. He could check it a million times, and there would be no point.

Krypton would be gone, and so would its inhabitants, and everything they'd ever hoped to aspire to.

His thoughts immediately ran to Lara, and their unborn son. He'd hoped…he'd hoped that he was wrong, and that their son would grow up where he belonged. Here, in their ancestral home. He looked at the carved walls that rose up to a dizzying height. He never quite understood the point of such architecture, it was a waste of resources and did nothing for temperature control. But then that was the scientist in him, bred from a thousand's thousand years of genetic engineering. Honestly, he thought that he might've been a scientist anyway, even if it wasn't a forced aptitude. Growing up he felt it a vise, almost worse than being locked in a room, it almost seemed claustrophobic, even. Luckily Lara felt the same way, a scientist herself, but one that looked lovingly upon the carvings in the wall, in the art in the main foyer…she could never be anything but the scientist, though that didn't stop her from dreaming of something different. Something more.

And now, all their dreams would end.

Save one.

He clenched his fist, the computer screen still staring at him, daring him to be as cold as it was, as rational and unfeeling as to calmly announce the end of the world as easily as it announced the daily weather. He had to warn the council—he had to warn everyone! Surely they would listen, his findings were solid and easily provable.

But a little voice in the back of his head warned him of the likely possibility that they wouldn't.

He turned around, and stared out at the large window—more of a door, an opening, really, into the warm Kryptonian evening. The massive, ancient red sun was almost completely set. He liked sunsets, after meeting Lara, who often spoke of them quite poetically, likening them to a firey dragon dance upon the horizon.

A heart pang when he thought of his beloved mount, and how all others like it would be gone forever, even if his plan did succeed. They wouldn't know, up until the point the planet's core finally destabilized, and every volcano would erupt at once, that something was even wrong.

And right on cue, the ground shook . He held his breath, a completely irrational thought of "This is it!" crossing his mind for the shortest of seconds. Then it was gone. The earthquakes were getting worse, but then again, horrible earthquakes were something of the norm for the last hundred years. The council would have to understand!

But if they didn't…his plan, his horrible, wonderful, terrifying plan would have to come to fruition.

"Jor?" came Lara's voice from an anteroom. "You all right?"

"It was nothing, just a minor one," he called back, automatically, not wanting to worry her—not even sure of how to break it to her, really.

And the plan. She wouldn't do it. What mother could? How could he ask it of anyone? To send their son on an insane chase through the stars to a planet they knew nothing about? A daunting task for an adult—but he would be an infant! What if he were to land in an ocean? A distinct probability, considering how widespread that planet's oceans were…the ship would protect him for only so long, but without someone to find him and take care of him…

His thoughts were really going to betray him if he kept on like this. First things first. The council must be warned.

"Jor? You all right, really? You sound…a little worried," Lara came into the room, her hand instinctively on her stomach, even though she wasn't even near to showing yet.

He stared, his eyes wide. This was it. He felt his courage melt away with each passing second. No, he had to tell her now.

But his simple expression told her already what she needed to know. She covered her mouth with her hands.

"No…" she said, her eyes suddenly filling with tears. "No, you have to check again!"

"I have," he said simply. "I'm…I'm so sorry."

With a sob, she ran into his arms, and they both collapsed on the ground, ignoring requests for assistance from their annoyingly helpful robots.

After a few moments, he quietly explained to her about the plan, in the worst case scenario, if the council didn't listen. The spaceship. Their son.

She looked at him, pushing away. "You can't…that's impossible! Even if it somehow worked…he's a baby. Just a baby!"

"Would you have him stay here, then?" the words were harsh, but he didn't mean it to come out that way. "He was always going to be someone special. And now he will be."

"He will be the last son of Krypton," Lara said, trying to hold back another sob. "That's not special, that's horrifying!"

"He'll live," Jor-El said, trying to be strong for the both of them. He felt a bit better, actually, now that he had a plan. Now that he had focus.

"And Krypton will live on through him."

Lara sat back, staring off into the distance. The red sun had finally set, and a cool blue night had fallen. How many more nights would there be? How many more days?

So little. They had so little time left.

"He'll live," she said finally. She grasped his hand tightly.

It was a small hope, Jor-El thought, but he grasped her hand back just as tightly.

But it was still hope. And that was everything.

* * *

Okay, so I can't be the only one who was completely charmed by Jor-El in MOS? I'm a long-time DC fan and I'm quite taken aback at how much I'm fangirling over this version of him. I mean, it could be Russell Crowe's dreamy hair, but I digress. I really would have enjoyed seeing more of Jor-El's adventures, and I can't get this character out of my head, so I decided to write a quick little thing. I hope it's as accurate as it can be from the details we've seen in MOS, but if something is amiss, please let me know! I'm much more familiar with Batman's universe than Supes'. Thanks for reading!


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